@pedro yes quite possibly - a mix-up between the the two.
Thought LA got on the wrong side of Wright for the opener.
2-1 as I type though!
McGree pulls one back in the 67th minute, but Matt T gives away a penalty (handball) a minute later - hat-trick for Wright.
Strelec & Sarmiento on for Browne & Whittaker in the 58th minute.
Sène on for Conway in the 81st minute.
Just as Boro getting into the game in the second half they give Coventry a goal - a shambles by 2 defenders and the goalkeeper and one Coventry player.
Then Boro score a good goal and back in the game only to give away a soft penalty. In real time it looked a bit harsh. On the replay a clear penalty..14 minutes to go - can’t see Boro getting anything from the game. Coventry just need to play to see the game out.
philip of Huddersfield 👎👎☹️☹️
@philip-of-huddersfield Fair enough Philip but I reckon Boro have played well so far.
And it finishes 3-1. Coventry still a bogey team, then. 🙁
Ok , a ‘ deserved’ defeat against a good team with an impressive centre forward. But there’s enough talent in the Boro first 11 to go on another winning run. Not convinced there are enough subs to come on and change the game. Sermiento may be the exception.
philip of Huddersfield 👎👎☹️☹️
Shame about that penalty just after Boro scored as you felt it would've been game on - though as for the penalty, I'm not sure how Targett could've avoided being hit on the hand at point blank range as spun round.
As I mentioned at HT, Coventry tactic of long balls to chase proved to be a winning one as Ayling was out-paced and out-muscled - though he had a few bad moments tonight that he got away with.
It was a game lost on errors at the back but it could've been different if key moments at both ends had gone differently. Important to bounce back in the next two home games!
It is how we respond now. Poor Boro defending was the difference tonight although we played ok I felt but we lacked a cutting edge. A shame as I don’t think Coventry are that special. They just pressed us hard for 45 mins and then said break us down which we couldn’t do and hit us on the break and took advantage of our mistakes. Let’s move on quickly and get back on the winning trail where Oxford will just park the bus. UTB
Gifted two of those 3 goals, but we didnt look like scoring, despite having so mych of the ball.
Whittaker should have buried the second of the two headed chances that came to him, both of which he perhaps should have scored.
Hackney scored a pearl against Norwich, but he misses so many more. He should have played Conway in on a couple of occasions.
With another referee, Coventry might not have got away with their aggressive pressing in the first half, but that is not an excuse for our not being able to contain them.
They remain our modern bogey team, but both of these teams are genuine contenders for a top two finish. I suspect the top spot is likely to change hands again over the next few weeks. Here is hoping.
So we lose a game with over 70% possession and 17 shots to there 9. Only one of their shots on target wasn't a goal. It's not the end of the world I think they have a better squad than we do. Our first XI is an equal but they were able to bring on a ten goal striker and have another 10 goal striker out suspended. Also Torp who has 7 goals and 4 assists Our bench probably has two possible game changers. Hopefully we can get through the rest of the season without any injuries. I need some explanation of the modern hand ball rule. Looking at the incident at Villa on Saturday and tonight, is if the ball hits your hand is it now a penalty? As in the past you had to move your hand to the ball.
Yes, when we scored I was quietly confident that we would get at least a point but the penalty finished the game. Coventry were marginally better than us tonight and we could have defended better but it’s not the end of the world as we played well enough. The most critical thing now is for the team to pick itself up and bounce back quickly to win the next game.
The handball rule is stupid as it talks about having you arm in a natural position - but what is a natural position if you're not standing still? It should be back to deliberate handball - i.e. you make a movement with your arm to hit the ball or are putting your arms deliberately in a position to block the ball.
@powmillnaemore I think that is a fair reflection.
I also think, unfortunately because of how we play under KH, we have been caught too many times at the back, when we lose the ball when attacking and the opposition hit a long ball froward We lack pace at the back, but usually get away with it, unless against someone like Wright.
I think a few teams have caught onto that now.
Hi everyone.
Well, down to earth with a bump we come, as Coventry played their cards right in their takeover bid. Our Brucie bonuses may be from another generation of games, but like that Rioch solid team, can we bounce back, strictly speaking? You (would like to) bet...
I’m not downhearted at all. There aren’t many teams who’ll be able to cope with us this season. I think SB was at fault for the second goal but we need to accept that players will occasionally make a mistake.
Promotion is still in our hands and for the first time in years I’m confident that we’ll make it.
The BBC match report says Targett sloppily put his hand out ! Obviously not watching the same game.
With hindsight, perhaps we should have started Dael Fry instead of Luke Ayling for this one. But easy to say that after the game.
I wouldn't want to be Oxford on Saturday.
If anything I thought Targett was trying to put his hand behind his back to avoid giving away a handball but he was just unlucky the ball hit him as he had no time to react.
HAND BALL
I would always favour the old rule of deliberate hand ball but based on the current rule that is a penalty. We’ve seen a lot worse penalties in the Premiership when VAR is utilised. Some of them have been ridiculous.
On another subject how many times should a player be fouled before an opponent is cautioned ? Morris was fouled 3 times in next to no time. He was fouled another time in the first half and I think twice in the second half. So a total of 7. Fortunately he kept his cool.
It reminded me when I refereed. A player was fouled after about 30 minutes. He turned to the opponent and hit him. I sent him off. After the game his manager said I made the right decision but said his player did it out of frustration as it was the fourth foul by 4 different opponents. He said it was planned by the other team as he was their star player. My problem, and I suspect other referees , is that it’s almost impossible to remember all fouls against the same opponent. If I could then I would have cautioned the fourth player or possibly the third player.
philip of Huddersfield 🤔🤔
Oxford will be no pushover. They drew 0-0 away to Coventry with 10 men for part of the game.
So we must expect 10 men behind the ball with them relying on breakaway and corners. So, I think patience and quick passing will be very important to win.
philip of Huddersfield 👍🤔🤔
Anyway. All jokes aside, what conclusion did I draw from tonight's defeat?
Earlier, I had been, with some concern, looking back to Ireland's 3-1 defeat at home to Spain in 1993. And at half time, when we were 1-0 down, I found myself looking back at a 1-0 away defeat to a significantly lesser Coventry in 2010.
Why the former? Because expectation for Big Jack's Ireland, prior to that game, was enormous, as it was for us today. A win for Ireland back then would have wrapped up World Cup qualification for them. More than that, they'd never lost a competitive match under Jack at Lansdowne Road and had conceded just twice in the whole campaign. But they were undone by a classic "that wasn't supposed to happen" spell before and during the game, losing Andy Townsend and John Aldridge to injury and then conceding three in a freak fifteen minute spell in the first half, with former Boro man Alan Kernaghan having a real off day. True, they reached the World Cup in the end, but it was the tightest of finishes.
And the latter... well, I thought of what Mogga had said back then. He'd implied that what Coventry did, they did well. They had a big striker, they played a very direct style, they got the ball forward quickly and they put Boro under pressure from set plays.
All while Boro put together good passing shapes in midfield and moved around fluidly - yet how often did they really hurt Coventry?
It happened then, and it kind of happened now. A direct, physical approach - also favoured by Javier Clemente's Spain team, according to my research - sucking the life out of, denting the confidence of, or frustrating a side who either likes to pass it around or is accustomed to having their way (as Ireland were at Lansdowne under Jack for so, so long) with a striker who is big, opportunistic or both (for Julio Salinas, read Haji Wright) there to take the chances that come his way.
It seems unjust to feel this disappointed over one game, but you can understand the frustration when directness and physicality either puts the brakes on or derails the Boro train once too often. And usually when we're really expected to deliver the goods - as Ireland were that day against Spain. And often when we've really had the chance to move clear - see not only Ireland, but also Boro at Burnley near the end of our last successful promotion campaign. And like Ireland, we got there in the end, but again, it was tight.
Let's hope this is only a brake - or break? - from what we've become accustomed to of late. There was still enough pleasing football on show tonight to hint that this is likely to be the case, even if our momentum has taken a hit.
I might be inclined to start Sarmiento on Saturday as on his 30 minutes tonight he looked like he might have the pace and guile to unlock a team that will park the bus. Just had a look at the weekend and midweek fixtures. We have two home games against Oxford and Leicester, both in the bottom 3, Coventry go to WBA and Sheff Utd , Ipswich are at Wrexham and Watford, Millwall have two home games against Portsmouth and Birmingham. So lots of movement in the next week I think.
I would add that Ayling had a very rough night, no question. I do believe that he really will not enjoy being reminded of the second goal.
Were I KH I would put a metaphorical arm around him and remind him not only of how valuable he's been throughout this campaign, but also reassure him of his importance to the cause - as we can imagine Big Jack perhaps did with Alan Kernaghan after the Spain game.
I have been inspired to search Jack's words on that very game, and they've inspired me.
On the pattern of the game:
"...You're chasing the game from the first minute. It gives them great confidence to come and play and do what they want to do. They're never under any pressure."
While it wasn't exactly "from the first minute" for Coventry, it very nearly was and I can only imagine that hitting the post so early really gave them and their fans a lift, a strong hint that we were there to be got at and that they could truly take charge of the game if they got the first goal. And, sadly for us, they did - for all the positives in our play, we were always chasing the game.
Back to Jack. And when the issue of Alan Kernaghan potentially being responsible for a goal or two was raised:
"I didn't think so. I thought Alan was caught in a bad position, and I thought (Julio Salinas) did extremely well actually. He's a big strong lad, and he's quite quick."
That warms my heart - rightly recognising not only that the opposition player is a hugely gifted forward, but that publicly directing any blame to an individual player will only dent his confidence. For it has been said that if your own manager doesn't believe in you, no one will.
If we'd got a point at Sheff U and a point at Coventry people would have said two good results.
My observations,
wrong attitude , I think Helberg dropped the ball on this one, this game was big for Lampard, Boro were not ready for the aggression coming from Coventry, the ref was lenient, but you have to be ready for what's coming, no Fry, after one minute Wright's header against the post said everything,
As Morris gone back to Carrick ball, forever to pass
Bryn I'm not sold on him
Both fullbacks are poor lately , playing soft and Britain running up back alleys
Now it's not the end , I just worry , the old issues crop up, you look at Millwall nowhere near the talent we have ,but drone on each game and win games,
Saturday will tell us if they brush it off and play with freedom
COB
Disappointing result but not a surprise given our record against Coventry.
My concern is that when teams are countering our way of playing and things are not working KH has yet to show he can change things.
FL clearly had a plan, in the first half it was to press us high and to swamp the midfield so as to close down the opportunity to get the ball forward and limit our opportunities to win the ball in their half.
Having taken the lead the plan in the second half was to defend deeper, only leaving one player up front and whilst we had the ball for most of the time in their half they limited our opportunities to score and we failed to take clear cut chances McGree apart; having given ourselves a lifeline we then were unlucky to concede the penalty. I am firmly in the hand to ball camp and the current law has caused more problems than it has solved.
As Phillip has posted, Oxford is as big a game as last night and they will defend deep and look to frustrate; fingers crossed that KH has plans to overcome which he has drilled into the team this week. 😎
@gt I would agree we struggle against aggressive teams, as in a number of areas we are lightweight.
Yes, both full backs were not at their best, but neither were probably most of the team. I would say that only Conway and McGree offered up as an outlet.
Hopefully though KH and his team of assistants can look at this loss and the obvious shortcomings and look at how to deal with them.
Whether he will compromise with Hellball and getting caught out at the back, it has to be said, a fair amount of the ball over the top may become a standard for an opposition team with a front runner with pace.
@k-p-in-spain I wonder what Adi said before the Coventry game and now after the defeat when we hardly put a glove on them.
As KP said, and I posted before seeing his post, I do believe some flexibility and compromise is needed for games when it is not going to plan.